STUART — We have four weeks until we celebrate a new year. How have you done with your wellness goals for this year?

If you haven’t quite achieved your goals – don’t panic. You can start right now!

If your goal is to exercise more – start today.

If your goal is to build more muscle – start today.

If your goal is to train for a special event – start today.

If your goal is to lose 20 pounds – start today.

Do you have trouble making time for your well-being? Check out these seven effective ways to make time for exercise and nutrition:

1. Ask yourself “why.”

Understanding why you want to eat better and exercise more gives you the motivation to prioritize it over other things. Keep asking why until you find your most compelling reason.

2. Identify your top priorities.

First identify the things that are most necessary to feel fulfilled in life. These often relate to family, health and livelihood. Second, add time for extra fun and satisfaction to life, but are not totally necessary (hobbies, excelling at work, being a competitive athlete). Last are the bonus activities (watching TV, using social media, playing video games, going out to eat). When you put too much emphasis on the bonus activities, you won’t have time for your top priorities.

3. Keep a time diary.

Your schedule reflects how you are prioritizing the activities in your life. Track your time for a couple of weeks to find out if it’s consistent with your goals and values.

4. Increase health and fitness activities in 15-minute increments.

To start to align your schedule with what you want to accomplish, replace low-value activities with high-value ones, little by little. Maybe trade off 15 minutes of watching TV with 15 minutes of healthy meal prep.

5. Create systems that make health and fitness faster and easier.

With a little extra time and effort up front, you can create an environment that significantly reduces the time needed to eat well and move more.

6. Put meal prep and movement in your calendar.

If we waited until we “felt like it,” a lot of important things would get neglected. Schedule it in, and stick to it!

7. Review at the end of each week.

Did you use your time to support your health and fitness?

If you answered “yes”, celebrate and explore what worked and keep doing it. Add 15 more minutes of healthy food prep and movement next week.

If you answered “no,” think about what you did instead. Being healthy and fit is like an iceberg. Eating well and working out is only the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot of strategizing, prioritizing, and planning underneath.

The Martin Health & Fitness Centers can help you with your fitness goals. We offer three locations in Martin County: Palm City, Stuart and Hobe Sound.

Nancy Aldrich is manager of Martin Health and Fitness Centers. To learn more about programs and fees, visit martinhealth.org/fitness.

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